Slack files anti-competition complaints vs. Microsoft in EU

European Commission will review and decide whether to open a formal probe

0
293

Slack Technologies, Inc. recently filed anti-competition complaints to the European Commission against Microsoft accusing the tech giant of anti-competitive behavior.

The workplace messaging service company on Wednesday (July 22) announced it filed the complaint accusing Microsoft of unfairly bundling its rival Teams application with its popular Office productivity suite.

The Slack complaint alleges Microsoft of ‘illegal and anti-competitive practice’ by abusing its market dominance to beat competitors in violation of the European Union competition law.

In a statement, Slack also claims the tech giant’s Teams product has been forced installed in millions of Microsoft Office suite applications that include Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint by blocking its removal and hiding the true cost to enterprise customers.

Jonathan Prince, Slack Vice-President of Communications and Policy expressed confidence in their product but said “we can’t ignore illegal behavior that deprives customers of access to the tools and solutions they want.”

Prince said Slack poses as a threat to Microsoft’s hold on enterprise software with its superior work messaging software.

“But this is much bigger than Slack versus Microsoft – this is a proxy for two very different philosophies for the future of digital ecosystems, gateways versus gatekeepers,” Prince said.

David Schellhase, General Counsel at Slack, said the company only wants ‘fair competition and a level playing field’.

“We’re asking the EU to be a neutral referee, examine the facts, and enforce the law,” said Schellhase.

The San Francisco-based tech company is also asking the European Commission to take swift action to ensure Microsoft cannot continue to illegally leverage its power from one market to another by bundling or tying products.

The European Commission will now review the complaint and decide whether to open a formal investigation into Microsoft’s alleged antitrust practices.

How did Microsoft react?

Microsoft, in a statement, said it looks forward to providing information to EU antitrust enforcers and answering any questions they may have on the recent complaint.

The Redmond, Washington-based technology giant also adds the main advantage of their Teams software is in connecting people through video conferencing which Slack currently lacks.

“With COVID-19, the market has embraced Teams in record numbers while Slack suffered from its absence of video-conferencing,” Microsoft said.

“We’re committed to offering customers not only the best of new innovation but a wide variety of choices in how they purchase and use the product,” Microsoft added in its statement.


Read More: AMD shares soar over 12 percent after strong Q2 financial report

Previous articleSan Francisco Consulate: Chinese Biologist found Stealing Intellectual Property
Next articleChina’s ambitious Tianwen-1 probe successfully begins Mars mission
JM Agreda
JM Agreda is a freelance journalist for more than 12 years writing for numerous international publications, research journals, and news websites. He mainly covers business, tech, transportation, and political news for Businessner.